Telecom - Staff Letter addressed to Holly Barkwell (Barkwell Holland Group Inc.), Eric Janus (Ottawa Police Service) and Tony Gilligan (E-Comm 9-1-1)
Ottawa, 9 January 2024
Our reference: 8662-C402-202306935
BY EMAIL
Holly Barkwell
President & CEO
Barkwell Holland Group Inc.
Eric Janus
Operations Manager
Ottawa Police Service
Tony Gilligan
Vice President, Technology Services
E-Comm 9-1-1
Subject: Procedural directions relating to interrelated Part 1 Applications
With this letter, Commission staff provides procedural directions relating to three Part 1 Applications associated with the decommissioning of the Enhanced 9-1-1 (E9-1-1) networks within the context of Canada’s transition to next-generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1).
On 21 December 2023, the Commission received two Part 1 Applications; one filed on behalf of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) and the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada (PCC), and the other filed by Canadian Forces Base Borden Technical Services Communications and Information Systems Squadron (CFB Borden TS CIS Sqn). In each application, the parties requested that the deadline by which incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC) are to decommission their current 9-1-1 network components that will not form part of their NG9-1-1 networks, be delayed from 4 March 2025 to 4 March 2026. Both applications
- Contend that the 12-month delay would provide local governing authorities and their public safety answering points (PSAPs) the time needed to i) address and overcome issues and obstacles related to skilled resource shortages faced by vendors and PSAPs, ii) test capacity and capabilities, and iii) develop standards necessary for the integration of NG9-1-1 text messaging; and
- Propose that the dual-tariff regime remain in place during the extension and that commercial rates or penalties would be a reasonable consequence for any PSAPs not able to achieve the new deadline.
On 22 December 2023, the Commission received a third application filed on behalf of E-Comm Emergency Communications for British Columbia Incorporated (E-Comm) and its NG9-1-1 Contracted Partners: British Columbia Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), Royal Canadian Mounted Police E-Division (RCMP), and Saanich Fire (SAF) in which they requested that the E9-1-1 network and Legacy Selective Router Gateways remain available until the end of 2025. The applicants submitted that such an accommodation would afford additional time to ensure that no unnecessary risks are imposed on the transition activities and the 9-1-1 service operations of British Columbia’s PSAPs.
Given the similarities between the three requests, Commission staff considers that it would be beneficial to the efficient disposal of the issues at hand to merge them into a single proceeding under the file number 8662-C402-202306935.
Parties who wish to file an intervention in relation to the merged proceeding are invited to do so by 9 February 2024. This includes the CACP, the CAFC, the PCC, CFB Borden TS CIS Sqn, E-Comm, BCEHS, RCMP, and SAF should they wish to intervene in each other’s applications.
The parties listed above are invited to file final replies by 19 February 2024.
A copy of this letter and all related correspondence will be added to the public record of the file number 8662-C402-202306935.
Original signed by
Michel Murray
Director, Dispute Resolution and Regulatory Implementation
Telecommunications Sector
c.c.: Étienne Robelin, CRTC, etienne.robelin@crtc.gc.ca, 873-354-4325
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